Each hardback book that I select to alter has something that pulls me in and that's my starting point. It might be the shape of the book, the feel of the paper, the images, the fonts or all of the above. As I work in a book, it is transformed into a journal. A container. Not a container that holds separate, discrete things | pages, but a project.

Think of an art journal as a holding place for color & texture & words & exploration. You might carry out that exploration via words, thoughts, analyses, and/or art materials. I think it's important to use your journal in a way that works for you. It does not have to be deep and it does not have to be playful. Whatever grey zone that you want to work inside! Your journal, your choice.

One day, I'll create a simple art journal page. But that day is not today. Creating chaos on the page is a surprisingly effective way to focus my mind and de-stress. Working here as per usual in an altered hardback book where I am busy mastering the skill of transforming order into disarray. Simple rainbows turned into super-saturated grungy rainbows.

I've tasked myself with filming flip-thru videos for all of the books/journals finished this past year. Most of this journal was finished in 2015-2016 with maybe 1-2 pages this year. The Orange Journal is the 2nd flip thru on the list [the first is the Red Journal]. I wrote about my process for naming stuff in The Elusive Naming Process; my altered books are typically named after the cover color of the original book or maybe the purpose of the journal.

I found this extra wide book, in landscape format, at the discount book store for a few dollars. The pages are glossy but I haven't retained much of the original abstract imagery. The book is 12"x8.5" closed, a lush 24" open. And where an index card is a jigsaw puzzle - challenging me to make the most of a tiny canvas, a picture book provides so much space, vast space, so that I can start anywhere and end up anywhere.

How often do you turn your 35mm camera sideways and take a photograph in portrait perspective rather than landscape? This was the question I pondered as I looked for tall, narrow components for this journal page. I created the background stripes in this altered book with acrylics, then threw my paper stash into a flurry of disorganization looking for stuff to fit! And it all started completely innocently, with the goal of using a tarot card on a journal page. This is not what I would have envisioned -- but this is where I wound up!